So far, Jules Baptiste's EP has proven to be the best new discovery out of the free box. Sitting in a sea of worthless and boring alternative, indie, and (barely) new wave records was this little gem. Once I sampled it, I put it aside for a full listen. And that happened last night. I guess given the group's association with Glenn Branca (the record label for one), the album's genre tags are pinned to the likes of No Wave and Art Rock. But what I hear is Avant Prog. RYM says this about the No Wave genre: "Given its experimental nature, no wave music changed a lot during its brief existence but often delved into atonality, dissonance, non-unified tempos, abrasiveness, angularity, buzzing guitars and skronk, tribal drumming, etc." Yea, that's not this at all. Native Dance is a very tight, constantly shifting, "technical" band, for a lack of a better term. The two saxophone players give it a tough jazz rock edge, though they are both remarkably constrained. Had they skronked and squealed throughout, I would have tossed into the sale pile. I'm hearing bands like Dr. Nerve and Chainsaw Jazz versus unhinged chaos. I'm not the world's foremost avant prog guy, but I liked this one. Perhaps 15 minutes is the right length for music such as this. Plus I like the way I obtained the album, giving it an instant "personal experience" factor.
Ownership: EP: 1982 Neutral. Single sleeve. Obtained as noted above (2023). I have to remove the perm marker radio call letters and stickers. Took me about 30 minutes to do that proper with the Matching Mole album, but it was worth it.
4/8/23 (new entry)
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